Method and apparatus using a hierachical searching scheme among virtual private communities

ABSTRACT

Provided is a member or content search method in a virtual private community (VPC) network including at least one of a first VPC including communication devices owned by a predetermined user, a second VPC that may be positioned in an upper layer of the first VPC, and a third VPC that may be positioned in an upper layer of the second VPC, the method including receiving, by one of the communication devices, a search request comprising one of VPC identifiers of a user, verifying a VPC corresponding to the VPC identifiers that may be included in the search request, in response to the search request, and searching for members included in the verified VPC, a VPC positioned in a lower layer of the verified VPC, or contents owned by the members included in the verified VPC.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2010-0076052, filed on Aug. 6, 2010, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The following description relates to technology for searching formembers included in each virtual private community (VPC), or contentsowned by the members of VPCs.

2. Description of Related Art

Applications and communication devices may provide a social networkservice, and the like. The social network service may provide acommunity type website enabling each user to make more friends or formpersonal connections, and may share various pieces of information withother users through the social network community type website.

Here, in general, a server may be used to provide the social networkservice, and the users may use the social network service via theserver.

SUMMARY

In one general aspect, there is provided a system that includes a memberor contents search method in a virtual private community (VPC) networkincluding at least one of a first VPC including communication devicesowned by a predetermined user, a second VPC that may be positioned in anupper layer of the first VPC, and a third VPC that may be positioned inan upper layer of the second VPC, the method including receiving, by oneof the communication devices, a search request including one of VPCidentifiers from a user, verifying a VPC corresponding to the VPCidentifiers that may be included in the search request, in response tothe search request, and searching for members included in the verifiedVPC, a VPC positioned in a lower layer of the verified VPC, or contentsowned by the members included in the verified VPC, and the VPCidentifiers of the VPCs may indicate a hierarchical structure among theVPCs.

The method may further include responding to the search request byincorporating the search result into the search request.

The method may further include responding to the search request byincorporating a portion of the VPC identifiers of the second VPC intothe search request, and the receiving may include receiving a searchrequest including VPC identifiers of the third VPC, the verifying mayinclude verifying the third VPC, and the searching may include searchingfor the second VPC among the first VPC and the second VPC positioned ina lower layer of the third VPC.

The method may further include responding to the search request byincorporating a portion of the VPC identifiers of the first VPC into thesearch request, and the receiving may include receiving a search requestincluding VPC identifiers of the second VPC, the verifying may includeverifying the second VPC, and the searching may include searching forthe first VPC that is positioned in a lower layer of the second VPC.

The method may further include responding to the search request byincorporating a list of the contents owned by communication devicesincluded in the first VPC into the search request, and the receiving mayinclude receiving a search request including VPC identifiers of thefirst VPC, the verifying may include verifying the first VPC, and thesearching include searching for the communication devices included inthe first VPC.

A hierarchical content name of the contents owned by the communicationdevices may include VPC identifiers of the first VPC, and a name of thecontents owned by the communication devices.

Members of the second VPC may share a content sharing service or asocial networking service.

Members of the third VPC may perform an association using apredetermined communication device, and may share information about eachof a plurality of second VPCs.

The receiving may include receiving, by at least one of thecommunication devices, a search request including one of the VPCidentifiers, and information about scope of a search.

The verifying may include verifying one of the first VPC, the secondVPC, and the third VPC based on the information about the scope of asearch.

In another general aspect, there is provided a communication device in aVPC network including at least one of a first VPC includingcommunication devices owned by a predetermined user, a second VPC thatmay be positioned in an upper layer of the first VPC, and a third VPCthat may be positioned in an upper layer of the second VPC, thecommunication device including a memory to store VPC identifiers of theVPCs, indicating a hierarchical structure among the VPCs, an interfaceto receive a search request including one of the VPC identifiers, and aprocessor to verify a VPC corresponding to the VPC identifiers that maybe included in the search request, in response to the search request,and to search for members included in the verified VPC, a VPC positionedin a lower layer of the verified VPC, or contents owned by the membersincluded in the verified VPC.

Other features and aspects may be apparent from the following detaileddescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network ofuser-oriented virtual private communities (VPCs).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of generatinga user-oriented VPC.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a member of asecond VPC may form a new VPC in concert with a member of another secondVPC, in a VPC.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operating method ofa communication device in a VPC.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a self-secureassociation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operating method ofa hub for a communication device in a VPC.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a communicationdevice in a VPC.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hub for acommunication device in a VPC.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a VPC network fordescribing an example of searching for a member or contents.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwisedescribed, like drawing reference numerals will be understood to referto like elements, features, and structures. The relative size anddepiction of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity,illustration, and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader ingaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses,and/or systems described herein. Accordingly, various changes,modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/orsystems described herein will be suggested to those of ordinary skill inthe art. Also, description of well-known functions and constructions maybe omitted for increased clarity and conciseness.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network of user-oriented virtualprivate communities (VPCs).

Referring to FIG. 1, the network of the user-oriented VPCs includes aplurality of second VPCs 110, 130, and 150, a third VPC 170, a mobileoperator 180, and the Internet 190.

The user-oriented VPC may correspond to a virtual community foracquiring contents desired by a user in the VPC, by generating andtransmitting a content request message that may express an interest of auser in the content.

The user-oriented VPC may enable various services to be shared betweenacquaintances by supporting the generation of VPCs so that an offlinerelationship between family members and relatives may be well maintainedin an online environment.

The VPC may correspond to an online community generated in auser-oriented manner. That is, the VPC may be generated without beinglimited by infrastructural boundaries, and may provide a serviceregardless of the boundaries. As an example, the VPC may include varioustypes of communities that may be hierarchical or non-hierarchical, thatis, horizontal.

According to example embodiments, the user-oriented VPC may be providedwith the contents desired by the user in the VPC, thereby being providedwith a sharing service and a social networking service more effectively,in a user-friendly manner, and without a risk of personal informationbeing leaked.

All information shared among users, for example, members of theuser-oriented VPC may be shared only between the members of thecommunity. Thus, the personal information of the users, for example, themembers of the VPC may be prevented from being inadvertently leaked bythe service provider, hacking with respect to an external server, or thelike.

According to example embodiments, the VPC may correspond to a virtualcommunity formed in a user-oriented manner, instead of a mannerindependent of the service provider, and may be generated in a form of adistributed structure.

The VPC may be classified into a first VPC (not shown), the second VPCs110, 130, and 150, the third VPC 170, and the like based on a size ofthe community and a characteristic of the community.

The first VPC may correspond to a community for a predetermined singleuser, which corresponds to a fundamental unit of the community, and mayperform server-less and self-secure association between personalcommunication devices. Here, self-secure indicates that a communicationdevice securely communicates with another communication device via anencrypted link established directly between the two communicationdevices without using a third party. Referring to FIG. 1, communicationdevices 113, 115, and 117 of predetermined users may form the first VPC.

The members of the first VPC may correspond to personal communicationdevices or various devices having a network function, and may include,for example, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile device, a sensor device, and the like.

In particular, the sensor device included as a member of the first VPCmay be combined with more advanced security technology to be applied toan e-health system and a smart home.

As aforementioned, the first VPC may include at least one communicationdevice for a predetermined single user, and the at least onecommunication device for the predetermined user may correspond to asingle member of the first VPC.

For example, it may be assumed that among communication devices inparents' home of FIG. 1, a communication device 111 is a desktopcomputer owned by a father, the communication device 113 is acommunication device owned by the father, the communication device 115is a PDA owned by a mother, and the communication device 117 is acommunication device owned by the mother.

In this case, the first VPC may be generated by the communicationdevices 111 and 113 of a predetermined user corresponding to the father,and another first VPC may be generated by the communication devices 115and 117 of another predetermined user corresponding to the mother.

The communication devices 111 and 113 for the father included in thefirst VPC may perform a self-secure association between them.

The communication devices 115 and 117 for the mother in the other firstVPC may also perform the self-secure association between thecommunication devices 115 and 117, similar to the communication devices111 and 113.

The second VPCs 110, 130, and 150 may correspond to higher ordercommunities of the first VPC, and may share a content sharing service ora social networking service.

The second VPC 110 includes a hub corresponding to the communicationdevice 111, and the communication devices 113, 115, and 117.

The second VPC 130 may include a hub corresponding to a communicationdevice 131, and communication devices 133 and 135, and the second VPC150 may include a hub corresponding to a communication device 151, andcommunication devices 153 and 155.

Here, predetermined communication devices, for example, thecommunication devices 111, 131, and 151, which are included in parents'home, my home, and sister's home, may respectively correspond to acommunication device of the first VPC, and also may operate as a hub ofthe second VPC. Further descriptions will be made hereinafter.

The second VPCs 110, 130, and 150 may include a scale corresponding to ahome unit, such as parents' home, my home, and sister's home asillustrated in FIG. 1. As an example, a home unit community may beclassified based on a particular aspect of a scale, however, a region ofthe second VPCs 110, 130, and 150 is not limited to a home.

Members of the second VPCs 110, 130, and 150 may include a predetermineduser of the first VPC and users authorized by the predetermined user.

For example, in the case of parents' home, the father and mother havingat least one communication device for a predetermined user may bemembers of the second VPC.

In my home, it may be assumed that communication devices 131 and 133owned by me correspond to a laptop computer and a smart phonerespectively, and a communication device 135 owned by my spousecorresponds to a smart phone.

In this instance, the communication devices 131 and 133 owned by me maycorrespond to members of the first VPC, and the communication device 135of my spouse may correspond to a member of the another first VPC. Also,my spouse and me may correspond to members of the second VPC.

My spouse may correspond to a user authorized by me, as a member of thesecond VPC.

The third VPC 170 may correspond to a highest order community generatedby performing a mutual association by the plurality of second VPCs 110,130, and 150, and may have a scale corresponding to, for example, “myworld” of FIG. 1.

The third VPC 170 may correspond to a higher order community of theplurality of second VPCs 110, 130, and 150, and members of the third VPC170 may perform an association through predetermined communicationdevices, for example, the communication devices 111, 131, and 151corresponding to hubs.

Also, information about each of the plurality of second VPCs 110, 130,and 150 corresponding to the members of the third VPC 170 may beexchanged or shared through the predetermined communication devices, forexample, the communication devices 111, 131, and 151 corresponding tothe hubs.

Here, the information about each of the plurality of second VPCs 110,130, and 150 may include information about each of the members of thesecond VPC, and information about contents included in the members ofthe second VPC.

The VPC may be easily extended to a wider hierarchical ornon-hierarchical VPC such as a fourth VPC, a fifth VPC, and the likeaccording to a desire of a user, for example, a member of the community,to extend a scope of the community.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a method of generating a user-orientedVPC.

Referring to FIG. 2, a first VPC for a predetermined user, including atleast one communication device of the predetermined user is generated in210.

Here, the at least one communication device included in the first VPCmay generate a hierarchical content name, using a virtual communityidentifier of the first VPC and a content name included in the at leastone communication device.

The hierarchical content name may hierarchically include the virtualcommunity identifier of the first VPC and the content name included inthe at least one communication device.

For example, it may be assumed that the virtual community identifier ofthe first VPC corresponds to “Jones”, the at least one communicationdevice included in the first VPC corresponds to a cell phone, a laptopcomputer, and a PDA, and the cell phone includes a content “abc.mpeg”.

In this case, the cell phone included in the first VPC may generate ahierarchical content name “Jones/cell phone/abc.mpeg”, using the virtualcommunity identifier “Jones” of the first VPC and the content name“abc.mpeg” included in the cell phone.

As aforementioned, the at least one communication device included ineach of the VPCs according to example embodiments may generate a virtualcommunity identifier using community information of the communicationdevice, for example, a name of the community, or member information, forexample, a name of the member, and the like, and may generate ahierarchical content name using a virtual community identifier and acontent name.

In 220, a second VPC corresponding to a higher order community of thefirst VPC is generated.

In this instance, members of the second VPC may share a content sharingservice or social networking service, and may include a predetermineduser, and users authorized by the predetermined user.

In 230, a third VPC corresponding to a higher order community of aplurality of second VPCs is generated.

Members of the third VPC may perform an association through apredetermined communication device, for example, a hub, and may shareinformation about each of the plurality of second VPCs.

For example, each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPCmay have an inherited virtual community identifier indicating ahierarchical structure of the first VPC, the second VPC, and the thirdVPC.

Here, the at least one communication device of the first VPC maygenerate the hierarchical content name using the content name includingthe virtual community identifier of each of the first VPC, the secondVPC, and the third VPC.

That is, when the content is generated, members of each VPC may generatea hierarchical content name including community information, memberinformation, and the like, such as “(virtual private) communityname/member name/content name” or “(virtual private) communityname/member name/name of at least one communication device of themember/content name.”

The name of each community, the member name, and the content nameexpressed in the hierarchical content name may have a form of, forexample, “parents home/Jones (name of a father corresponding to themember)/abc.txt,” and a hierarchical structure indicated in thehierarchical content name may be used for configuring a transmissionpath of a content request message.

The VPC according to example embodiments may be expressed using anintuitive and user-friendly virtual community identifier, for example,“my home” or “my world” of FIG. 1, and the members of each VPC may havean inherited virtual community identifier indicating the hierarchicalstructure reflecting a structure of the VPC.

That is, each VPC may more easily generate a routing path of the contentrequest message and the transmission path of the contents, using theinherited virtual community identifier indicating the hierarchicalstructure.

When generating the routing of the content request message and thetransmission path of the content, the VPC may exchange information aboutthe VPC along with the virtual community identifier of each VPC.

Here, the information about the VPC may include, for example,information about the member of the VPC, a content list, or the like.

When the content is generated, the members of each VPC may also generatea hierarchical content name including community information and memberinformation used as the virtual community identifier.

Here, the hierarchical content name may include the communityinformation, member information, and content information such as“community name/member name/content name” or “community name/membername/name of at least one communication device of the member/contentname”, and may be expressed as, for example,“alice_world/alice_home/alice/wild.jpg”.

In this instance, “alice_world” may correspond to a name of a highestorder VPC, that is, the third VPC, “alice_home” may correspond to a nameof a second highest order VPC, that is, the second VPC, “alice” maycorrespond to a name of a most elementary unit of a VPC, that is, thefirst VPC or a communication device, and “wild.jpg” may correspond to acontent name included in the most elementary unit of VPC or thecommunication device.

In 240, the at least one communication device included in the first VPC,the second VPC, and the third VPC generates a public key for each of thefirst VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC.

In 250, the at least one communication device generates a security keyfor each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC, based onthe generated public key.

In 260, the member or the at least one communication device included inthe first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC performs a self-secureassociation between the members or the at least one communicationdevice, using the generated security key.

Here, the at least one communication device of the first VPC maygenerate a hierarchical content name using the virtual communityidentifier of each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC,as aforementioned.

The hierarchical content name may hierarchically indicate the virtualcommunity identifier of each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and thethird VPC.

A new member or a new communication device joining one of the first VPC,the second VPC, and the third VPC may perform an association with asingle member among the members of the first VPC, the second VPC, andthe third VPC, using credentials of each of the first VPC, the secondVPC, and the third VPC.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example in which a member of a second VPC may forma new VPC in concert with a member of another second VPC, in a VPC.

Referring to FIG. 3, a network of a user-oriented VPC includes aplurality of second VPCs 310, 330, and 350, a third VPC 370, a mobileoperator 380, and the Internet 390.

Although not illustrated, VPC A and VPC B may refer to the second VPC310 and the second VPC 330 in the following example.

A second VPC A, for example, the second VPC 310 includes a hub 311 andcommunication devices 313, 315, and 317.

Another second VPC B, for example, the second VPC 330 includes a hub 331and communication devices 333 and 335, and the other second VPC B, forexample, the second VPC 350 includes a hub 351 and communication devices353 and 355.

In a method of generating the user-oriented VPC according to exampleembodiments, another plurality of VPCs independent of a boundary of abasic VPC may be formed.

Here, it may be assumed that the communication device 313 included inthe second VPC A, for example, the second VPC 310 and the communicationdevice 335 included in the second VPC B, for example, the second VPC 330perform an association with each other beyond a boundary of the secondVPC A and the second VPC B in which the communication device 313 and thecommunication device 335, respectively, may be originally included in,and thereby generate another new VPC, for example, a fourth VPC 320.

A predetermined user, for example, the communication device 313 of thesecond VPC A, for example, the second VPC 310 may generate the newfourth VPC 320 with a member, for example, the communication device 335of the second VPC B, for example, the second VPC 330, among members ofthe plurality of second VPCs 310, 330, and 350.

Here, the new fourth VPC 320 may be independent of a boundary of theexisting second VPC or third VPC, and may correspond to anon-hierarchical VPC.

That is, members of the new fourth VPC 320 may generate and exchange apublic key for the new fourth VPC 320, and may generate a security keyfor the new fourth VPC 320, using the generated public key for the newfourth VPC 320.

New VPCs independent of the plurality of second VPCs such as the newfourth VPC 320 and another new fourth VPC 340 of FIG. 3 may provide aseparate access control and security setting that may conform tocharacteristics of the newly generated VPCs.

That is, the new fourth VPC 320 or the other new fourth VPC 340 mayprovide a limited access control and security setting only for the newfourth VPC 320 or 340.

For example, it may be assumed that the communication device 333 of thesecond VPC B, for example, the second VPC 330 corresponds to acommunication device owned by my son in “my home”, and the communicationdevice 355 of the second VPC C, for example, the second VPC 350corresponds to a communication device owned by a son of my sister, thatis, a nephew in “my sister's home.”

My teenage son and the teenage son of my sister may desire to shareconfidential information being kept from other family members, and mayform a new VPC different from the existing second VPCs.

In this instance, the new VPC may prevent other members from accessingthe new VPC and may maintain security, using a separate public key and aseparate security key, so that only members of the corresponding VPC mayaccess the corresponding VPC.

As aforementioned, the new VPCs may be generated within the second VPC,and may be generated beyond the boundary of the third VPC.

That is, the new VPCs may be generated in a form of a hierarchical ornon-hierarchical community, and security key management technology basedon a distributed structure may be used to form various forms ofcommunities.

As to the security key management technology based on the distributedstructure, the aforementioned description related to the security keygenerated using the public key for each VPC will be referenced.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an operating method of a communicationdevice in a VPC.

The communication device in the VPC may acquire a virtual communityidentifier of a first VPC from at least one communication deviceincluded in the first VPC, and may generate a hierarchical content nameusing the virtual community identifier of the first VPC and a contentname included in the at least one communication device.

Here, the VPC may include the first VPC for a predetermined user,including the at least one communication device of the predetermineduser.

The hierarchical content name may hierarchically include the virtualcommunity identifier of the first VPC, and the content name included inthe at least one communication device included in the first VPC.

The communication device in the VPC may generate a public key for thefirst VPC, and may generate a security key of the first VPC based on thegenerated public key. Also, the communication device may perform aself-secure association with another communication device of the firstVPC, using the generated security key. The self-secure associationperformed by the communication device with the another communicationdevice will be further described with reference to following FIG. 5.

In addition, the VPC may further include a second VPC as a higher ordercommunity of the first VPC, a third VPC as a higher order community of aplurality of second VPCs, and the like.

Members of the second VPC may share a content sharing service or socialnetworking service, and members of the third VPC may perform anassociation through a predetermined communication device, and may shareinformation about each of the plurality of second VPCs.

As aforementioned, when the VPC includes the second VPC, thecommunication device in the VPC may acquire a virtual communityidentifier of each of the first VPC and the second VPC from at least onecommunication device included in each of the first VPC and the secondVPC, and may generate a hierarchical content name using a content nameand the virtual community identifier of each of the first VPC and thesecond VPC.

The hierarchical content name may hierarchically include the virtualcommunity identifier and the content name of each of the first VPC andthe second VPC.

When the VPC includes the third VPC, the communication device in the VPCmay acquire a virtual community identifier of each of the first VPC, thesecond VPC, and the third VPC from at least one communication deviceincluded in each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC,and may generate a hierarchical content name using a content name andthe virtual community identifier of each of the first VPC, the secondVPC, and the third VPC.

When the VPC includes the second VPC, the hierarchical content name mayhierarchically include a virtual community identifier of each of thefirst VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC.

An operating method of the communication device in the VPC when the VPCincludes the first VPC, second VPC, and third VPC as aforementioned willbe hereinafter described.

Referring to FIG. 4, the communication device in the VPC generates aninherited virtual community identifier of the first VPC, hierarchicallyincluding the virtual community identifier of the first VPC acquiredfrom the at least one communication device included in the first VPC,and the content name included in the first VPC, in 410.

Here, the VPC may include the first VPC for a predetermined user, asecond VPC as a higher order community of the first VPC, and a third VPCas a higher order community of a plurality of second VPCs.

Here, the first VPC may include, as a member, the at least onecommunication device of the predetermined user, and members of thesecond VPC may share a content sharing service or social networkingservice.

Members of the third VPC may perform an association through apredetermined communication device, and may share information about eachof the plurality of second VPCs.

In 420, the communication device in the VPC acquires a virtual communityidentifier for each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPCfrom the at least one communication device included in each of the firstVPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC.

Prior to 420, the at least one communication device included in thefirst VPC may generate the hierarchical content name using the virtualcommunity identifier and the content name of each of the first VPC, thesecond VPC, and the third VPC.

In 430, the communication device generates the hierarchical content nameusing the virtual community identifier and the content name of each ofthe first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC.

In this instance, the hierarchical content name may hierarchicallyindicate the virtual community identifier of each of the first VPC, thesecond VPC, and the third VPC.

In 440, the communication device generates a public key for the firstVPC. In 450, the communication device generates a security key of thefirst VPC based on the generated public key.

In 460, the communication device performs a self-secure association withanother communication device of the first VPC, using the generatedsecurity key.

In 470, the communication device determines whether a member desiringassociation with the other communication device, among members of theplurality of VPCs corresponding to higher order communities of the firstVPC and the third VPC corresponding to a higher order community of theplurality of second VPCs, includes the public key or the security keyfor the first VPC.

When a member desiring association with the other communication, amongthe members of the second VPCs and the third VPC device, includes thepublic key or security key as a determination result of 470, thecommunication device performs the association with the member using thepublic key or the security key, in 490.

However, when a member among the members of the second VPCs and thethird VPC does not include the public key or the security key in 470,the communication device provides the public key or the security key ofthe first VPC to the member in 480, and thereby enables the associationto be performed in 490.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a self-secure association.

Referring to FIG. 5, a new member joining a predetermined community mayperform an association with all members included in the community.

However, according to example embodiments, a communication device maynot perform an association with all members in a predetermined VPC whenthe communication device newly joins the VPC.

For example, a communication device 540 newly joining a VPC performs anassociation with a single predetermined member in the VPC, therebyautomatically performing an association with all members in the VPC,which will be referred to as an auto and scalable association.

A communication device of an inviter (hereinafter, ‘owner’) who firstforms a community in the VPC may generate a public key for the VPC inwhich the owner may be included.

For example, it may be assumed that a communication device 510corresponds to an owner, and communication devices 520 and 530correspond to communication devices of other members of the second VPC.

The owner 510 may share a public key for recognizing the owner, with atleast one communication device of the other members so that members ofthe second VPC in which the owner 510 may be included so as to berecognized.

As a method of sharing the public key, a case in which the ownertransmits, via an authorized channel, the public key for recognizing theowner to the at least one communication device of the other members maybe given as an example.

The at least one communication device of the other members may verify,using the public key, whether information transferred to the at leastone communication device corresponds to information transferred from acorrect owner, that is, the owner of the second VPC in which the atleast one communication device may be included.

Also, the at least one communication device of the other members mayverify, using the public key, whether a signature of the correspondinginformation corresponds to a signature of the owner.

When the public key of the owner 510 is shared, the at least onecommunication device may automatically verify whether the at least onecommunication device corresponds to a member of the second VPC.

According to example embodiments, all members of a predetermined VPC maybe linked with the owner using the public key. Thus, a member newlyjoining the VPC, for example, a communication device 540 may perform asingle association with the owner, thereby automatically performing theassociation with the other members in the same VPC.

That is, the member newly joining the VPC, for example, thecommunication device 540 may perform the single association with theowner, thereby being automatically associated with all members withoutperforming an association with each respective member in the community.

Also, the member newly joining the VPC, for example, the communicationdevice 540 may automatically perform the association with other membersin the VPC in addition to the owner.

The other members in the VPC may be linked to a credential of the owner,and accordingly an effect analogous to performing the associationdirectly with the owner may be achieved without performing theassociation with the owner directly.

When the association between the owner and the at least onecommunication device of the VPC is performed, the owner and the at leastone communication device may provide, among the members, informationabout members of the VPC, a hierarchical content name, a virtualcommunity identifier, and the like included in each of the owner and theat least one communication device.

The aforementioned information may be used for an automatic associationbetween an owner and other members, and a future content routing betweenVPCs.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an operating method of a hub for acommunication device in a VPC.

Referring to FIG. 6, in 610, the hub acquires a virtual communityidentifier of each of a first VPC and a second VPC, in the VPC.

Here, the VPC may include the first VPC for a predetermined user,including at least one communication device of the predetermined user,and the second VPC corresponding to a higher order community of thefirst VPC.

Members of the second VPC may share a content sharing service or socialnetworking service.

In the home unit VPC described with reference to FIG. 3, the hub mayperform forming of a VPC, managing members, managing contents of amember, and the like.

The hub may transmit, via an authorized channel, a public key forenabling the members of the second VPC to recognize the hub to membersof the second VPC.

The hub for a communication device in the VPC may correspond to apredetermined communication device in the VPC, as opposed to a separatedevice.

In this instance, the hub may correspond to a communication device thatis generally connected to a broadband network, and constantly operatesin a power-on state.

Members included in the VPC may effectively communicate with an externalsource through the hub, and may also communicate with the externalsource instead of relying on the hub.

In 620, the hub generates the VPC through an association with thecommunication device, that is, a member having contents, using thevirtual community identifier of each of the first VPC and the secondVPC.

In 630, the hub generates a routing path between a communication deviceincluding the contents and a communication device requesting thecontents, using community information included in the virtual communityidentifier.

According to example embodiments, the hub may perform a role as a routerin the VPC and thus, at least one communication device in the VPC maymore easily exchange routing information, and the like through the hub.

The hub may perform tunneling between the second VPC and anotherplurality of second VPCs so that the members of the second VPC mayperform communication with members of the other plurality of secondVPCs.

That is, the hub may provide the tunneling with a communication deviceoutside of a local connection area of the VPC in which the hub may beincluded, thereby configuring a communication environment betweenmembers of the VPC in which the hub may be included and members of otherplurality of VPCs.

The hub may also perform forming a VPC, managing members, managingcontents of a member, and the like.

In 640, the hub processes a content request message from thecommunication device or members included in each VPC, using the virtualcommunity identifier of each of the first VPC and the second VPC.

Also, the hub generates a routing path between the communication deviceincluding the contents and the communication device requesting thecontents, using the virtual community identifier of each of the firstVPC and the second VPC, and processes the a content request messagethrough the routing path.

In 650, the hub periodically or aperiodically detects a change in thecontents included in the members of the second VPC.

When a change in the contents included in the members of the second VPCis detected in 660, the hub either acquires the changed contents, orenables the members of the second VPC to share the changed contents in670.

Conversely, when a change in the contents is not detected in 660, thehub does not perform any particular operation.

The hub may manage information about the members of the second VPC, andinformation about the contents included in the members of the secondVPC.

Also, the hub may exchange at least one piece of communicationenvironment information with other VPCs outside of the second VPC inorder to perform communication with the other VPCs.

In this instance, the at least one piece of communication environmentinformation may include information about a name of a VPC, a virtualcommunity identifier, contents included in a VPC, and the like.

In addition, the hub may perform at least one of synchronization, push,and a content search, with the members of the second VPC.

The VPC may further include a third VPC corresponding to a higher ordercommunity of the plurality of second VPCs.

In this instance, members of the third VPC may perform an associationthrough a predetermined communication device, and may share informationabout each of the plurality of second VPCs.

When the VPC includes the third VPC, the hub may acquire the virtualcommunity identifier of each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and thethird VPC, and may process a content request message from communicationdevices or members included in each VPC using the virtual communityidentifier of each of the first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC.

In order to process the content request message, the hub may perform anassociation with the communication device including the contents, usingthe virtual private identifier of each of the first VPC, the second VPC,and the third VPC.

Also, the hub may generate a routing path between the communicationdevice including the contents and a communication device requesting thecontents, using the virtual community identifier of each of the firstVPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC.

As aforementioned, a VPC network may include at least one communicationdevice and at least one hub.

The at least one communication device may generate a hierarchicalcontent name using a content name and an inherited virtual communityidentifier indicating a hierarchical structure of a first VPC, a secondVPC, and a third VPC, acquired from the at least one communicationdevice included in the first VPC for a predetermined user, including atleast one communication device, and the second VPC corresponding to ahigher order community of the first VPC.

That is, the at least one hub may process a content request message fromthe at least one communication device using the hierarchical contentname.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a communication device 700 in a VPC.

Referring to FIG. 7, the communication device 700 in the VPC includes aninterface 710, a processor 730, and a memory 750.

The VPC may include a first VPC for a predetermined user, including atleast one communication device of the predetermined user.

The interface 710 may receive an inherited virtual community identifierindicating a hierarchical structure of each VPC acquired from the atleast one communication device included in the first VPC.

The processor 730 may generate a hierarchical content name using avirtual community identifier of the first VPC, and a content nameincluded in the at least one communication device.

The memory 750 may store the virtual community identifier and thehierarchical content name.

The VPC may further include a second VPC corresponding to a highercommunity of the first VPC. In this instance, members of the second VPCmay share a content sharing service or social networking service.

When the VPC includes the second VPC, the interface 710 may receive theinherited virtual community identifier indicating the hierarchicalstructure of each VPC, acquired from the at least one communicationdevice included in the first VPC and the second VPC.

The processor 730 may generate the hierarchical content name using thevirtual community identifier of each of the first VPC and the secondVPC, and the content name included in the at least one communicationdevice included in the first VPC and the second VPC.

Also, the processor 730 may generate the virtual community identifier ofeach of the first VPC and the second VPC.

When the VPC includes the second VPC, the hierarchical content name mayhierarchically include the virtual community identifier of each of thefirst VPC and the second VPC, and the content name included in the firstVPC and the second VPC.

The processor 730 includes a security key generation module 732 and anassociation module 734.

The security key generation module 732 may generate a public key for thefirst VPC, and may generate a security key of the first VPC based on thegenerated public key.

When the corresponding communication device corresponds to acommunication device of a member included in the second VPC, a thirdVPC, or a fourth VPC, the communication device may generate a public keyand a security key for the corresponding VPC.

Also, the security key generation module 732 may provide the public keyor the security key to a member desiring an association with thecorresponding communication device, among members of the second VPC orthe third VPC.

The association module 734 may perform a self-secure association withanother communication device of the first VPC, using the security key.

The association module 734 may perform an association between thecorresponding communication device and the member desiring theassociation with the corresponding communication device, using thepublic key or the security key provided to the member by the securitykey generation module 732.

Thus, when a member of one of the hierarchical or non-hierarchical VPCs,for example, the first VPC, the second VPC, the third VPC, the fourthPVC, and the like, desires to perform an association with thecorresponding communication device, the communication device may performthe association using the public key or the security key provided by thesecurity key generation module 732.

The member included in the community having performed the associationwith the corresponding communication device may automatically performthe association with all members of the VPC including the correspondingcommunication device and thus, the member may not further perform theassociation.

The memory 750 may store the virtual community identifier, and thehierarchical content name.

Also, the memory 750 may store the public key and the security keygenerated by the security key generation module 732, and the processor730 may provide the stored the public key and the security key to amember desiring the association with the corresponding communicationdevice.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a hub 800 for a communication device ina VPC.

Referring to FIG. 8, the hub 800 includes an interface 810, a processor830, and a memory 850.

The hub 800 further includes a monitoring module 870.

The VPC may include a first VPC for a predetermined user, includingcommunication devices of the predetermined user, and a second VPCcorresponding to a higher order community of the first VPC.

In this instance, members of the second VPC may share a content sharingservice or social networking service.

The interface 810 may receive an inherited virtual community identifierindicating a hierarchical structure of each VPC, acquired from at leastone communication device included in the first VPC and the second VPC.

The interface 810 may transmit, via an authorized channel, a public keyfor enabling the members of the second VPC to recognize the hub 800 tomembers of the second VPC.

Also, the interface 810 may exchange at least one piece of communicationenvironment information with other VPCs outside of the second VPC inorder to perform a communication with the other VPCs.

In this instance, the at least one piece of communication environmentinformation may include information about a virtual community identifierand contents included in the member of the VPC.

The processor 830 may process a content request message from the atleast one communication device, using a hierarchical content name.

The processor 830 further includes an association module 832 and arouting module 834.

The association module 832 may perform an association with acommunication device including the contents, using the virtual communityidentifier of each of the first VPC and the second VPC.

The routing module 834 may generate a routing path between thecommunication device including the contents and a communication devicerequesting the contents, using the virtual community identifier.

The processor 830 may perform at least one of synchronization, push, anda content search, with the members of the second VPC.

The processor 830 may manage information about the members of the secondVPC, and information about the contents included in the members of thesecond VPC.

The memory 850 may store the virtual community identifier.

The monitoring module 870 may periodically or aperiodically detect achange in the contents included in the members of the second VPC.

When a change in the contents is detected by the monitoring module 870,the processor 830 may acquire the changed contents from the members ofthe second VPC, or may enable the members of the second VPC to share thechanged contents.

The monitoring module 870 may be included in the processor 830.

In addition, the VPC may further include a third VPC corresponding to ahigher community of the plurality of second VPCs.

Here, members of the third VPC may perform an association through apredetermined communication device, and may share information about eachof the plurality of second VPCs.

When the VPC includes the third VPC, the interface 810 may receive ahierarchical content name including an inherited virtual communityidentifier indicating a hierarchical structure of each VPC.

Here, the hierarchical content name including the inherited virtualcommunity identifier may be acquired from at least one communicationdevice included in the first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a VPC network for describing an exampleof searching for a member or contents.

Referring to FIG. 9, the VPC network includes multiple VPCs includingusers such as ‘Alice’, ‘Jim’, ‘Bob’, and ‘Sally’, and the VPCs have ahierarchical structure.

That is, communication devices owned by ‘Alice’ form a first VPC, VPC-1911, and communication devices owned by ‘Jim’ form another first VPC,VPC-1 912. Also, communication devices owned by ‘Bob’ form still anotherfirst VPC, VPC-1 913, and communication devices owned by ‘Sally’ form afurther first VPC, VPC-1 914.

Further, the VPC-1 911 of ‘Alice’, and the VPC-1 912 of ‘Jim’ form asecond VPC, VPC-2 921 that is positioned in an upper layer, and theVPC-1 913 of ‘Bob’, and the VPC-1 914 of ‘Sally’ form a second VPC,VPC-2 922 that is positioned in an upper layer.

Also, the VPC-2 921 of ‘Alice’, and the VPC-2 922 of ‘Sally’ form athird VPC, VPC-3 930.

As aforementioned, VPC identifiers assigned to the VPCs may indicate ahierarchical structure among the VPCs. For example, the VPC identifiersmay be indicated as follows.

-   -   Third VPC, VPC-3 930: [AliceWorld]    -   Second VPC of ‘Alice’, VPC-2 921: [AliceWorld/AliceHome]    -   Second VPC of ‘Bob’, VPC-2 922: [AliceWorld/BobHome]    -   First VPC of ‘Alice’, VPC-1 911: [AliceWorld/AliceHome/Alice]    -   First VPC of ‘Jim’, VPC-1 912: [AliceWorld/AliceHome/Jim]    -   First VPC of ‘Bob’, VPC-1 913: [AliceWorld/BobHome/Bob]    -   First VPC of ‘Sally’, VPC-1 914): [AliceWorld/BobHome/Sally]

As aforementioned, the VPC identifiers of the VPCs may indicate thehierarchical structure among the VPCs. That is, users may verify inwhich layer a predetermined VPC is included in the VPC network, byreferring to a VPC identifier of the predetermined VPC only.

An example in which ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ searches for a VPC, a user, thatis, a member, or contents in the VPC-3 930 will be describedhereinafter.

When ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ desires to search for a VPC, a user, that is, amember, or contents in the VPC-3 930, ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ may transmit asearch request. In this instance, ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ may transmit a searchrequest including one of VPC identifiers.

For example, the search request may include one of [AliceWorld],[AliceWorld/AliceHome], [AliceWorld/BobHome],[AliceWorld/AliceHome/Alice], [AliceWorld/AliceHome/Jim],[AliceWorld/BobHome/Bob], and [AliceWorld/BobHome/Sally]. When the useris unaware of the uppermost identifier [AliceWorld], the user may beable to search [AliceWorld].

When the search request transmitted from ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ includes[AliceWorld], generators of the VPCs positioned in a lower layer of theVPC-3 930, that is, the VPC-2 921 of ‘Alice’ and the VPC-2 922 of ‘Bob’may response to the search request. The generators of the VPC-2 921 of‘Alice’ and the VPC-2 922 of ‘Bob’ may correspond to ‘Alice’ and ‘Bob’,and accordingly ‘Alice’ and ‘Bob’ may respond to the search request.

In this instance, ‘Alice’ and ‘Bob’ may respond to the search request byincorporating {AliceHome} and {BobHome} in a form of data into thesearch request [AliceWorld]. Accordingly, ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ may be awarethat {AliceHome} and {BobHome} exist in a lower layer of [AliceWorld],based on the response from ‘Alice’ and ‘Bob’.

When the search request transmitted from ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ includes[AliceWorld/AliceHome], ‘Alice’ corresponding to a generator of theVPC-1 911 of ‘Alice’, and ‘Jim’ corresponding to a generator of theVPC-1 912 of ‘Jim’ may response to the search request. Here, the VPC-1911 of ‘Alice’ and the VPC-a 912 of ‘Jim’ may be is positioned in thelower layer of the VPC-2 921 of ‘Alice’. In this instance, ‘Alice’ andJim’ may respond to the search request by incorporating {AliceHome,BobHome} in a form of data into the search request. Accordingly, ‘Bob’or ‘Sally’ may be aware that the VPC-1 911 of ‘Alice’ and the VPC-1 912of ‘Jim’ exist in a lower layer of {AliceWorld/AliceHome}, based on theresponse from ‘Alice’ and ‘Bob’.

When the search request transmitted from ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ includes[AliceWorld/AliceHome/Alice], the VPC-1 911 of ‘Alice’ may be verified.In this instance, the communication devices included in the VPC-1 911 of‘Alice’ may transmit a list of contents owned by the communicationdevices. Accordingly, ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ may verify the list of contentsowned by the communication devices included in the VPC-1 911 of ‘Alice.Also, ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ may request for desired contents based on thelist of contents.

In particular, VPC identifiers of VPCs, as well as contents may alsohave hierarchical content names reflecting a hierarchical structure.This has been described above, and accordingly a further descriptionwill be omitted.

‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ may properly determine scope of a search in the VPCnetwork having the hierarchical structure. That is, ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ mayincorporate information about the scope of the search into the searchrequest, thereby instructing ‘Alice’ or ‘Jim’ to respond to the searchrequest in accordance with the corresponding scope.

For example, it may be assumed that ‘Bob’ or ‘Sally’ transmits s asearch request, such as ‘AliceWorld/AliceHome 2 depth’. Here,‘AliceWorld/AliceHome’ may indicate a VPC identifier of the VPC-2 921 of‘Alice’, and ‘2 depth’ may indicate information about scope of thesearch.

‘Alice’ corresponding to the generator of the VPC-1 911 of ‘Alice’, and‘Jim’ corresponding to the generator of the VPC-1 912 of ‘Jim’ mayrespond to the search request. In this instance, since the informationabout the scope of the search corresponds to ‘2 depth’, ‘Alice’ and‘Jim’ may transmit a list of contents owned by each of ‘Alice’ and‘Jim’. When the information about the scope of the search corresponds to‘1 depth’, ‘Alice’ and ‘Jim’ may respond to the search request byincorporating {Alice} and {Jim} into the search request in a form ofdata.

Here, the scope of the search may be variously determined. That is, thescope of the search may be determined to be a value ranging from ‘1depth’ to n depth’. A value of ‘k depth’, among values ranging from ‘1depth’ to ‘n depth’, may be determined to be a basic value. When theinformation about the scope is null, and the information may correspondto ‘k depth’.

According to an aspect, by generating a user-oriented VPC based on acommunication device of a person, for example, a member, the VPC may beeasily generated without help from an external service provider orexternal server.

According to another aspect, by generating a user-oriented virtualprivate community, a leak of personal information by an external serviceprovider or external server may be prevented.

According to still another aspect, by generating a user-oriented virtualprivate community based on a user-oriented distributed structure,various services such as a social networking service, content sharingservice, and the like may be more easily provided to members of thecommunity.

According to a yet aspect, by generating a hierarchical content nameusing a content name and an inherited virtual community identifierindicating a hierarchical structure of a VPC, path setting and routingmay be more easily performed in the VPC.

According to further another aspect, by generating a non-virtual privatecommunity among predetermined members independent of a boundary of ahierarchical VPC, a separate access authority and security settingconforming to the non-virtual private community may be provided.

According to still another aspect, by performing a self-secureassociation using a public key and a security key in a VPC, anassociation between members in the community, and an association withmembers outside of the community may be easily performed.

According to still another aspect, by performing a self-secureassociation, a hierarchical VPC or non-virtual private community may beeasily generated, and scalability of a VPC may be easily performed.

According to still another aspect, technology for efficiently searchingfor a member or contents among VPCs that exist hierarchically may beprovided.

The processes, functions, methods and/or software described aboveincluding methods according to example embodiments may be recorded,stored, or fixed in one or more non-transitory computer-readable storagemedia that includes program instructions to be implemented by a computerto cause a processor to execute or perform the program instructions. Themedia may also include, alone or in combination with the programinstructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The media andprogram instructions may be those specially designed and constructed, orthey may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skillin the computer software arts. Examples of non-transitorycomputer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks,floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM discs andDVDs; magneto-optical media such as optical discs; and hardware devicesthat are specially configured to store and perform program instructions,such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flashmemory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include bothmachine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containinghigher level code that may be executed by the computer using aninterpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act asone or more software modules in order to perform the operations andmethods described above, or vice versa. In addition, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium may be distributed among computersystems connected through a network and non-transitory computer-readablecodes or program instructions may be stored and executed in adecentralized manner.

A number of examples have been described above. Nevertheless, it shouldbe understood that various modifications may be made. For example,suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques areperformed in a different order and/or if components in a describedsystem, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a differentmanner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or theirequivalents. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope ofthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A member or content search method in a virtualprivate community (VPC) network comprising at least one of a first VPCincluding communication devices owned by a predetermined user, a secondVPC that is positioned in an upper layer of the first VPC, and a thirdVPC that is positioned in an upper layer of the second VPC, the methodcomprising: receiving, by one of the communication devices, a searchrequest comprising one of VPC identifiers from a user; verifying a VPCcorresponding to the VPC identifiers that are included in the searchrequest, in response to the search request; searching for membersincluded in the verified VPC, a VPC positioned in a lower layer of theverified VPC, or contents owned by the members included in the verifiedVPC, wherein the VPC identifiers of the VPCs indicate a hierarchicalstructure among the VPCs; responding to the search request byincorporating a portion of the VPC identifiers of the first VPC into thesearch request, wherein the receiving comprises receiving a searchrequest including VPC identifiers of the second VPC, the verifyingcomprises verifying the second VPC, and; the searching comprisessearching for the first VPC that is positioned in a lower layer of thesecond VPC.
 2. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising aprogram for instructing a computer to perform the method of claim
 1. 3.A communication device in a virtual private community (VPC) networkcomprising at least one of a first VPC including communication devicesowned by a predetermined user, a second VPC that is positioned in anupper layer of the first VPC, and a third VPC that is positioned in anupper layer of the second VPC, the communication device comprising: amemory to store VPC identifiers of the VPCs, indicating a hierarchicalstructure among the VPCs; an interface to receive a search requestcomprising one of the VPC identifiers; and a processor to verify a VPCcorresponding to the VPC identifiers that are included in the searchrequest, in response to the search request, and to search for membersincluded in the verified VPC, a VPC positioned in a lower layer of theverified VPC, or contents owned by the members included in the verifiedVPC.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: responding to thesearch request by incorporating the search result into the searchrequest.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: responding to thesearch request by incorporating a portion of the VPC identifiers of thesecond VPC into the search request, wherein the receiving comprisesreceiving a search request including VPC identifiers of the third VPC,the verifying comprises verifying the third VPC, and the searchingcomprises searching for the second VPC among the first VPC and thesecond VPC positioned in a lower layer of the third VPC.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: responding to the search request byincorporating a list of the contents owned by communication devicesincluded in the first VPC into the search request, wherein the receivingcomprises receiving a search request including VPC identifiers of thefirst VPC, the verifying comprises verifying the first VPC, and thesearching comprises searching for the communication devices included inthe first VPC.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein a hierarchical contentname of the contents owned by the communication devices comprises VPCidentifiers of the first VPC, and a name of the contents owned by thecommunication devices.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein members of thesecond VPC share a content sharing service or a social networkingservice.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein members of the third VPCperform an association using a predetermined communication device, andshare information about each of a plurality of second VPCs.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises receiving, by atleast one of the communication devices, a search request including oneof the VPC identifiers, and information about a scope of a search. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the verifying comprises verifying one ofthe first VPC, the second VPC, and the third VPC based on theinformation about the scope of a search.